Based on the recommendation of my favorite bookseller at Barnes & Noble, I picked up THE INVENTION OF HUGO CABRET by Brian Selznick, a book for children that mixes both prose and illustration to create…something delightful. The interior copy calls the story an “intricate, tender, and spell-binding mystery,” and follows a young orphan with a talent for tinkering, who lives in the walls of a Paris train station. At more than five hundred pages, the book might appear intimidating, but a great deal of that is illustration—and the story is not to be missed. Here, though, is one of my favorite passages:
“I like to imagine the world is one big machine. You know, machines never have any extra parts. They have the exact number and type of parts they need. So I figure if the entire world is a big machine, I have to be here for some reason. And that means you have to be here for some reason, too.”
Lovely, lovely. And Happy Sunday, folks! Also, if you have a moment, check out Guillermo del Toro’s audio and video diary from the New York Times.